Legend of the Black Ruby
by Gypheous
Summary: It was once said in a legend that the birth of a black Charmander could possibly end up saving the world. Save the world from what..? All she wanted to do was become a PoKe'MoN Master! Only PoKe'MoN 1 through 151 until way, way later
1. Black Ruby Discovery

**Legend of the Black Ruby**

**Gyphie: Yay, PoKe'MoN fanfic. This fanfic is going to be based STRICTLY on the game (with only a few similarities to the show, like Brock will not be in the Pewter City gym; just to warn you, I've only seen the episodes with only the first 151 PoKe'MoN and bits and pieces of the other shows). Please don't jump down my throat and say "THAT CAN'T HAPPEN BECAUSE THIS HAPPENED IN THE SHOW." I only remember a few important details about the show that I'm going to try to implement in my fic, but then again this is why it's based STRICTLY off of the game.**

**Disclaimer: I do NOT own any of the PoKe'MoN and only the characters that I created are mine.**

**CHAPTER ONE**

**Black Ruby Discovery**

This was it. It was the moment that she had been waiting on for six years. Her mother wouldn't let her leave when she was ten, but now, NOW she could finally fulfill her goal of being the greatest-known PoKe'MoN master anyone had ever seen. That's right, the name Gyphie Darihnks would be known all throughout the PoKe'MoN world, and by her side her elite team of PoKe'MoN. That annoying neighbor of hers would never mock her again! She had had six entire years to study all the different PoKe'MoN and all of their abilities and she wasn't about to let that entire six years go to waste!

She rushed downstairs, her bright blue eyes alight with the fire of determination, her brown hair bouncing about her shoulders, and six brand new PoKe'balls attached to the belt around her waist. She wore a black tank top, red and black arm socks on her forearms tightly, only down near her hands they became like sleeves, covering her hands slightly. Around her neck she had a red collar, small enough to fit around a Meowth's neck. On her feet she wore a pair of black boots, which didn't seem to go against her outfit at all but match it, surprisingly. She also wore a black mini skirt with a red bow in the back, the slack of the bow hanging down to her knees, over the bow a black belt with the PoKe'balls on it.

"Gyphie! You look nice!" A familiar voice called from outside of her window, Gyphie's attention being drawn to it.

"Wha..?" Gyphie arched an eyebrow as she saw her neighbor standing outside grinning.

"You look nice for a dork, at any rate. Hurry up, Gramps is waiting on you!" The young man called through the open window, Gyphie grumbling and marching over to the window, slamming it down.

"I'll show you dork… just you wait…" Gyphie muttered, heading for the front door and walking outside.

The sun hung high in the sky with a canopy of clouds, a slight breeze sweeping through the town. Gyphie inhaled, smiling and closing her eyes as she always enjoyed the outdoors. She looked over and saw her neighbor heading down the road, a book bag slung over his left shoulder. He wore black fingerless gloves, a pair of sunglasses balanced atop his head. His hair was a sort of mess of spikes, as if all he did was put gel in his hair and ran his hands through it like he was scratching at fleas. It was red in color, a few black stripes going through it.

He wore a simple pair of blue jeans with a few holes torn in the leggings and a belt to hold them up. He had on a black leather jacket with the sleeves ripped off, revealing that he was wearing a white tank top. Six PoKe'balls were attached to his belt as well, showing that he was leaving to attempt the PoKe'MoN League as well.

"Some fancy get-up you have…" Gyphie mumbled, the man grinning. His eyes were a soft shade of green, Gyphie always thinking that his hair and eyes would always do well during Christmas time.

"I'm going on a journey, I don't think dressing up in pretty clothes is going to help. This isn't a fashion show you know." He continued to walk past Gyphie, who grumbled and followed him slowly.

"I can't help it, this was about as travel-y as I got. My family is rich, I don't have any raggedy clothes like you always wear, Shorty." Gyphie's left eye twitched slightly.

"At least I have common sense." Shorty retorted, turning down a dirt road that lead up a hill.

The winding dirt road soon stopped at the top of the hill, a large building looming just over the town. Beside of it was a windmill, and a few PoKe'MoN flew about merrily behind it. Shorty grinned and stopped to admire it for a moment, Gyphie crossing her arms and walking past him as if the scenery wasn't anything new to her. Of course, it wasn't really, because ever since she was ten she would gaze out of her window and look at the building, always wondering when she would be able to start her journey. Her parents always thought that ten was far too young to head out into the open world where all sorts of dangers awaited to devour their child. It was just last week that Gyphie received a postcard from her parents that said she could start her journey on her sixteenth birthday, which was today.

"I just wish my mom and dad could be here to see me off…" Gyphie sighed.

"Sucks to be you." Shorty snorted, Gyphie glaring at him.

"Thanks for the sentimentality. Why did you start late anyway?" Gyphie asked.

"You see it all has to do with… none of your business!" Shorty replied. Gyphie grumbled, frowning deeply as she continued on down the road. Shorty ruffled her hair and ran past her, heading up towards the gargantuan doors to the building.

"Besides, just be happy you get a lovely little rival to accompany you on your journey! I doubt you'll get any PoKe'MoN to travel with _you_." Shorty laughed, opening the doors.

"But… you… it… that's not funny you big jerk!" Gyphie cried.

Shorty laughed as he walked inside, Gyphie following in behind him. She gazed in awe at all of the different PoKe'MoN that were just inside of the lab, many of the professor's aides studying them intently. They all looked about the same, wearing white coats and a pair of glasses. Only two of the aides really stood out, those being the ones hanging on the wall in a picture frame. Gyphie stared at her parents, a beautiful woman in a lab coat with deep purple hair and bright blue eyes and beside of her a handsome man in a white coat, slacks, and a black shirt. He had shaggy brown hair and a pair of brown eyes gazing out at the world from behind a pair of spectacles. He had a goatee and an earring in both of his ears.

Gyphie smiled softly as she followed Shorty through a pair of bookcases, showing a large working area with various tables. On the tables were some computers and a couple of small, red rectangles that looked to be like a type of book. Gyphie blinked and stared at all of the stacks of papers and books everywhere, holding her left arm tightly. She then saw a circular machine in the center, on which were four PoKe'balls. Three sat around on the edges of the machine, one with a flame mark, one with a raindrop mark, and one with a leaf. In the center there was another ball, but this one had no markings on it, it just looked like a normal PoKe'ball.

Suddenly, a stack of books fell over, a rather rank smell drifting into the room. Gyphie and Shorty wrinkled their noses, Gyphie soon holding her nose as she saw a purple glob pour into the room. A pair of eyes soon found their way to the top, the glob forming a mouth and seeming to moan slightly. Shorty furrowed a brow and stared at the PoKe'MoN in confusion.

"Muuuuuuk..!" The PoKe'MoN spoke.

"What the hell is that thing..?" Shorty moved back as the PoKe'MoN began to move towards him, Gyphie giggling.

"It's a Muk! How cute!" Gyphie held out a hand to the Muk, the PoKe'MoN staring at it quizzically.

"Muk." The Muk burbled, poking her hand with its own.

"It reeks…" Shorty held his nose, stepping away from the purple PoKe'MoN.

"That it does, Shorty! Hello Gyphie!" A voice called from behind a bookcase. Gyphie looked at the bookcase and soon saw the professor step around it, wearing his lab coat sleeves rolled up. He had salt-and-pepper hair, his eyes black as coal yet as friendly as a pair of eyes could get.

"Hello Professor Oak!" Gyphie smiled.

"Yo, Gramps, took long enough." Shorty snorted, crossing his arms.

"Patience is a virtue! Now, you come here Muk. We have to get you back with the others." Professor Oak began to push Muk back towards the door in which it had come in, Muk moaning as it slid its way out of the door and onto the grass. A few aides came over to take care of Muk, Professor Oak closing the door.

"It's your birthday already, is it?" Professor Oak smiled, Gyphie nodding.

"Yeah, I'm just upset my parents couldn't see me off…" Gyphie looked back towards the picture. Professor Oak put a hand on her shoulder and smiled again reassuringly.

"They'd be very proud of you, that's for sure. Much like Shorty's sister is proud of him." Professor Oak motioned to Shorty, who shrugged.

"It's not much. She'll really be proud when she sees me on the television holding the PoKe'MoN League cup." Shorty grinned.

"At any rate, we should get you guys started off, hm?" Professor Oak walked over to the machine with the PoKe'balls on it, Gyphie and Shorty following him.

"Sure thing, professor!" Gyphie smiled.

"Here we have--oh dear, I left him out again!" Professor Oak sighed, picking up the PoKe'ball in the middle. He sighed and pocketed it, Gyphie arching an eyebrow.

"Left who out? What was that professor?" Gyphie asked, growing curious.

"Oh, nothing, just a little experiment we've been dealing with here in the lab. He's a special Charmander." Professor Oak replied.

"Well, would it be such a big deal if I took that Charmander as my starter PoKe'MoN?" Gyphie asked. Shorty looked at Gyphie, frowning.

"It's an experiment, of course you can't take it." Shorty said. Gyphie glared at Shorty, crossing her arms.

"Last time I checked, you weren't Professor Oak." Gyphie stuck her tongue out at Shorty, who went to grab for it and missed.

"This Charmander is… well, very special. We have needed a skilled trainer to take him out and train him to see exactly what he's capable of. We've run every other possible test and he seems to be a normal Charmander… when he isn't put to the test of a PoKe'MoN battle." Professor Oak explained, pulling the PoKe'ball out of his pocket.

"So, you'll let me take the Charmander, right?" Shorty looked to the professor.

"Oh, heavens no!" Professor Oak exclaimed.

"Professor, why don't we test him out now? Shorty can pick any PoKe'MoN on the table to face against the Charmander." Gyphie suggested. Professor Oak stared at the PoKe'ball, focusing on it for a few moments before sighing and handing it to Gyphie.

"All right, Shorty you pick one." Professor Oak looked to his grandson. He walked around the table and placed a hand on the PoKe'ball with a raindrop on it.

"I'll pick this one!" Shorty grinned. The PoKe'ball then burst open with a bright light, the light pouring from the PoKe'ball and forming a shape on the ground.

The shape didn't stand all too tall, and the light faded to reveal a turtle-like PoKe'MoN. On its back was a red shell, and its eyes were a type of brownish-red. Its skin was blue, and it was cute to boot. Gyphie stared at the Squirtle with big eyes, cooing over how adorable it looked. Shorty snorted, picking up the Squirtle and grinning.

"I'm gonna call you Hydrix!" Shorty spoke to the Squirtle.

"Squoitle!" The PoKe'MoN cried out.

"Well, then… here goes!" Gyphie tossed the PoKe'ball that she held, a blackish-red light exploding from the PoKe'ball.

The first thing anyone could see was a bright blue flame amidst the blackish-red light. As the light faded, Gyphie stared in awe at the creature that stood before her. The Charmander stood with its eyes closed, pitch black in color. Its underbelly was a dark gray, almost like it was black. On the back of the Charmander dark red stripes ran down it to the tail, and its elbows seemed to be pointed on the ends. It only had two toes on each of its feet, and on the heels of them it had another claw, like bird feet. The Charmander opened its eyes, revealing a pair of ruby red eyes.

"Char!" The PoKe'MoN spoke, a grin on its face.

"Wow! His eyes are so beautiful!" Gyphie gasped, staring at the Charmander.

"This is what researchers all across the globe have been calling the Black Ruby of the PoKe'MoN world. Your parents found him and sent him our way… they had intended it to be a gift, but we weren't sure if you were truly capable of handling him." Professor Oak said.

"How come she gets a rare PoKe'MoN?" Shorty asked, setting Hydrix on the ground.

"Because you wouldn't know how to take care of a PoKe'MoN properly even if the lessons bit you in the butt!" Gyphie crossed her arms. Charmander picked up his PoKe'ball and balanced it on his nose, smiling.

"If you can take care of this Charmander here, he's all yours Gyphie. Just show me how you can battle with him." Professor Oak said. Gyphie nodded, Charmander tossing the PoKe'ball to Professor Oak and cheering. He ran over and hugged Gyphie's leg, Gyphie smiling and patting him.

"He's a fire type, though… anyone else see anything wrong with this picture?" Shorty arched an eyebrow.

"Sometimes it doesn't matter what types you use, it matters how you use the PoKe'MoN themselves. If you can master any element with any element, you know you're a good trainer. Water might have an advantage, but let's see if you have the skills to use that element against fire!" Gyphie clenched her fist, Charmander stepping forward and throwing his fist in the air, cheering.

"Right this way, then." Professor Oak walked across the room, opening a door to an outdoor stadium.

Gyphie and Shorty followed Professor Oak, their PoKe'MoN following closely behind them. Shorty took to the right, Gyphie turning to the left, both soon to be standing on opposing ends of the stadium. Gyphie looked down to Charmander, who smiled up at her innocently, flicking his tail back and forth. She smiled and nodded to him, Charmander clapping his hands excitedly and running out onto the battlefield. Hydrix soon followed suit, waddling his way quickly out onto the battlefield.

"The rules are like a simple PoKe'MoN match. First PoKe'MoN unable to continue battling loses the match," Professor Oak explained. "Ready, match set, GO!"

"This should be easy… Hydrix, water gun!" Shorty commanded of his PoKe'MoN. Hydrix nodded and puffed up his chest, water soon gushing from his mouth towards Charmander.

"Charmander, roll to the left and counter with flamethrower!" Gyphie shouted.

Charmander waited a few seconds for the water to get closer, only then listening to what Gyphie said. He rolled to the left and soon spat fire towards the water, the fire circling around it and heading towards Hydrix's mouth. The water hissed and soon began to turn into steam, Hydrix immediately stopping the water gun to run away from the incoming fire. The fire scorched where Hydrix once stood, Hydrix putting a hand over his heart and sighing with relief.

"Not bad… Hydrix, tail whip distraction then head in with a scratch!" Shorty shouted. Hydrix turned around and began to wag his tail, backing up towards Charmander. The PoKe'MoN seemed to giggle, then bit Hydrix's tail, Hydrix freezing.

"What the… is that even allowed!?" Shorty cried as Hydrix jolted up into the air, Charmander still latched onto its tail.

"Sure it is!" Gyphie giggled.

"Hydrix, water gun right to the face!" Shorty shouted again, Hydrix turning his head and blasting Charmander in the face with water. Charmander cried out in alarm, being blown back by the pressure of the water.

"Oh no! Charmander!" Gyphie gasped, trying to look through the steam to find her companion. She soon saw the familiar blue flame in the steam, letting out a sigh of relief.

"Good, you're okay… Charmander, use tackle on Hydrix!" Gyphie commanded. Charmander nodded and charged towards Hydrix, ramming his shoulder into the chest of the PoKe'MoN. Hydrix flew backwards, flipping in the air and skidding on his belly towards Shorty.

"Now use ember!" Gyphie shouted, Charmander obeying. He swished his tail around, small blue flames leaping from his tail and surrounding him, some of the flames hitting Hydrix.

"Hydrix, use scratch attack! Quick!" Shorty cried, Hydrix slowly getting to his feet. He panted and ran towards Charmander, scratching him across the chest. Charmander cried out slightly in pain, blood running from his new wound. He then whipped around and slammed his tail into Hydrix, sending him flying off to the side a bit.

"Use flamethrower one last time!" Gyphie smiled, confident in her new PoKe'MoN's abilities. Charmander opened his mouth, from it bursting blue flames that engulfed Hydrix.

"Hydrix, go inside your shell!" Shorty bit his lower lip, Hydrix obeying his master. The flames were still too much for him, sweat pouring down his face.

"Tackle attack now!" Gyphie pointed at Hydrix, Charmander letting out a battle cry and charging towards Hydrix, hitting his shell that was now on fire into the air. Hydrix came from his shell and cried in pain, soon falling to the ground. The breeze put out the flames, Hydrix landing on his back. He attempted to get up, soon falling unconscious.

"No way! A Charmander beat a Squirtle!?" Shorty cried in disbelief. He grumbled and pulled a PoKe'ball from his belt, tossing it at Hydrix. The PoKe'ball opened, a bright light engulfing Hydrix and taking him inside. The ball then flew back to Shorty's hand, Shorty putting the ball on his belt.

"That was remarkable! Such teamwork! Normally fire types can't beat water types. This Charmander has great potential!" Professor Oak spoke in astonishment, Gyphie running over to Charmander and hugging him.

"Oh, you're hurt." Gyphie looked at Charmander's chest. She picked up Charmander carefully, Charmander patting her on the side of her face as if to say he would be fine.

"So… you have something else to give us don't you, Gramps?" Shorty asked, Professor Oak nodding. He walked inside, both Gyphie and Shorty following. He picked up the red rectangles on the desk and handed one to both Gyphie and Shorty.

"These are PoKe'DEX. With each PoKe'MoN you encounter, it'll add a new page to it and you can learn more about the PoKe'MoN such as basic information like weight and height and what type it is. They'll help you on your journey." Professor Oak said, Gyphie staring at the thin red rectangle.

"Ah, I almost forgot. Gyphie, your mother told me to give you this." Professor Oak walked over to a table and picked up an orange bag, handing it to Gyphie. The back had a white PoKe'ball shape on it, a flap hanging over one side.

"Thanks professor." Gyphie smiled and set Charmander down, taking the bag and putting it over her shoulder.

"Now you two take care on your journey and feel free to send a call back at any time to let me know how you're doing." Professor Oak said.

"By the time I get back to you, I'll already have all eight of my badges!" Shorty grinned. He then pushed Gyphie out of the way and headed for the door of the lab, Gyphie frowning at him and following.

"You take care professor! Good luck with your research!" Gyphie called over her shoulder, waving to the professor. Charmander waved as well, a smile on his face.

One last time, Gyphie stopped and looked at the picture of her parents on the wall. She smiled and nodded to them, heading for the door of the lab. The door which lead to the beginning of a hard, long journey towards her goal. Gyphie took in a deep breath and opened the door, Charmander following her close in her footsteps, smiling the whole way. A soft breeze brushed by the area, Gyphie letting out the breath she took in slowly.

"I won't let you down Mama and Papa." Gyphie said aloud.

"Don't you have better things to do than talk to yourself? Like get to Viridian Forest?" Shorty taunted.

"Don't you have better things to do than be a jerk all the time!?" Gyphie frowned.

"Heh… I'll catcha later, Gyphie. Good luck," Shorty turned, "you'll need it."

He began to walk down the road, Gyphie frowning deeply. She then sighed and smiled slightly to herself, Charmander looking up at her. He tugged on her skirt and then pointed down the road, Gyphie smiling to him.

"It's just you and me, Charmander! At least until we can find some more friends to join us. Are you ready?" Gyphie looked down at Charmander.

"Char!" Charmander replied.

"Let's get going, then!" Gyphie grinned. She then began to walk down the road after Shorty, Charmander following her closely.

It was then that something fell from her bag, Charmander catching it in his hands and staring at it. He tugged on Gyphie's skirt, Gyphie blinking and looking down at Charmander. The little creature held up a postcard, Gyphie taking it and looking at it. On the front of the postcard there was a large, fancy-looking ship, sailing merrily in the water. Gyphie turned the postcard over and looked at the back, seeing her father's handwriting.

_Good luck, Gyphie! Your mom and I are rooting for you from the sidelines! We love you!_

_Love,_

_Mom & Dad_

Gyphie smiled to herself, putting the postcard back in her bag. She pat Charmander on the head, looking up at the road before her. Charmander smiled up at her, cheering. Gyphie had more hope than ever, and what she would find in Viridian Forest would give her even more. This was it, the real deal. This was her journey to become a PoKe'MoN master.

_(---)_

"The Black Ruby's been found, eh?"

"Yessir."

"Well… you know what to do."

"Yessir. Consider it yours. We will not fail you."

**Gyphie: Yay. XD Chapter one done. I hope you all enjoyed it. I enjoyed writing it. See you all on the next chapter. XD**


	2. The Return

**CHAPTER TWO**

**The Return**

**Gyphie's Note: Yeah, me again. I decided to pick this story back up since I went into an uber PoKéMoN kick… haha. Anyway, I've decided to base this story off of PoKéMoN from the Indigo League through the Orange Islands until the Johto League. Those are the only seasons of the show I actually like, so sorry if you like it beyond that point. Also, I will mix in a few of the game elements with the show elements. So consider this pretty much AU. At any rate, on with the story.**

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own PoKéMoN, only the characters I have created.**

"ARGH! I think we're lost, Charmander," a very frustrated Gyphie exclaimed, her partner looking up at her.

They were walking along a road, Gyphie staring intently at a map she clutched in her hands. Already the sun was close to the western mountaintops, orange kissing the blue of the sky and melting into soft pinks and purples. Charmander merely sighed and looked at the ground, watching his feet out of sheer boredom. There went his right foot, then his left, then his right again, and over there was a small pebble and just beside of that were a pair of feet in black hiking boots. Charmander stopped, following the hiking boots along a pair of raggedy brown khakis and an orange tank-top, a single green glove covering a left hand. His eyes continued to go up, finding a deeply tanned man standing with spiked brown hair, his eyes appearing to be shut tightly (which was often referred to as "kitsune eyes"). Gyphie just kept on walking, but Charmander and this man stood and stared at each other for a moment.

It was then that Gyphie realized Charmander was no longer walking beside of her, the girl stopping and turning on her heel to see her partner facing away from her. Gyphie blinked and followed Charmander's gaze to see a rather handsome young man standing in front of him, a traveling pack hanging on his shoulders. For a moment Gyphie couldn't really think of anything except for, _Wow, what a hunk!_, but that was quickly canceled out by, _Hey, maybe he can tell me where to go!_ Gyphie looked at her map and then walked over to the man, tapping his shoulder. Seeing that this didn't quite get his attention, she stood in front of him and waved her arms.

"Hey, sir!" Gyphie called out, the man suddenly noticing her. The man's attention turned to the beautiful girl in front of him and he immediately went to one knee and grabbed one of her hands.

"Miss, you are the most beautiful woman I have ever seen! Would you like to go on a date with me?" The man asked, Gyphie's cheeks being colored a deep scarlet.

"Erm, well… if you can help me get to Viridian City, sure?" Gyphie replied, blinking.

"Vuuuuul! Vulpix!" A small voice cried, Gyphie blinking. The man got up to his feet and cleared his throat, looking over his shoulder.

"Sorry, Vulpix, I'll get you to a PoKéMoN Center soon. It appears we're both headed in the same direction," the man spoke over his shoulder. Gyphie tried to peek over his shoulder, spotting a fluffy tail that was a rusty red color, the tail curling on end in six different places. She walked a bit to the side and spotted a fox-looking PoKéMoN, its eyes a chocolaty brown and a deep green collar around its neck with a large bell hooked to it. On its front right leg was the man's other glove, medical tape wrapped tightly around it to keep it on the PoKéMoN's foot. The PoKéMoN was strapped in two different places on its belly to the man's backpack, Gyphie moving back in front of the man and glaring at him.

"That's no way to treat a PoKéMoN! Stringing them up like that to your bag!" Gyphie shouted angrily at the man.

"No, you've got it all wrong, miss! While hiking with my Vulpix to study the eating habits of the PoKéMoN of this region, she stepped in a poacher's trap and got injured. I stupidly forgot to pack some potions and so I used my glove to keep anything else from grieving her injury and then strapped her to my backpack. I need my hands in case I need to read my map and Vulpix didn't seem to mind," the man answered defensively. Gyphie stood there for a moment with a look of disgust written on her face before she sighed and accepted the story for what it was.

"Anyway, I don't think I caught your name, but since you're heading to Viridian City it wouldn't hurt to ask." Gyphie said simply, looking at her map. She was a bit embarrassed with having accused this man of dastardly deeds, but the man took the map out of her hands. He studied it for a moment before rotating it and handing it back to her.

"You were holding it upside down. The name is Takeshi, by the way," the man replied, smiling softly.

"My name is Gyphie. Thank you, I wish I would've realized this sooner… I'd probably be in Viridian City by now. I'm sure that stupid Shorty is already there," Gyphie grumbled, clenching her fists and crumpling the map.

"You remind me of a friend of mine," Takeshi said, laughing. "Since we're headed the same way, shall we? I've been through here thousands of times, so I don't really need a map anymore." Gyphie looked up at him, easing her death grip on the map.

"Sure! I'd love to!" Gyphie exclaimed, maybe a _bit_ too enthusiastically. She then noticed that Charmander was no longer standing next to her and began to look around, a bit frantic.

"Charmander Char!" Gyphie heard his familiar voice, looking behind Takeshi to see that her Charmander had picked up a conversation with Takeshi's Vulpix.

"Vulpix!" Vulpix replied to Charmander, happily.

"It appears Charmander and Vulpix approve as well." Gyphie smiled.

"Shall we?" Takeshi motioned to the road ahead of him, Gyphie nodding to him.

The four of them set off, the sun just now hugging the mountaintops. The nighttime chill was already beginning to set in, Gyphie hugging her arms to her as Charmander walked behind her and Takeshi to continue conversation with Vulpix. Takeshi didn't seem effected in the least by the chill, assuming that Gyphie didn't mind it either. That was until he noticed her shivering, Takeshi frowning slightly. He also noticed Gyphie glancing at him every so often, looking away quickly as Takeshi looked at her. It was a bit humorous, as this reminded Takeshi of someone he once knew, a couple of years ago. He sighed gently and tried to shake the memory from his head, Gyphie looking over at him as she watched him shake his head. Gyphie didn't want to ask him what he was thinking about, as that may seem a bit too impersonal, especially since she had just accused him of being cruel to his Vulpix. By the way that Vulpix looked, she had been taken good care of. Her fur was glossy as ever, she was a good weight, and she even had a little collar around her neck.

_Maybe I should buy Charmander a collar… that might be cute._ Gyphie smiled at this idea, imagining Charmander in a little red collar, just like her own. Although the thought was quickly wiped from her mind as she also imagined what it would look like on a Charmeleon. It was completely wiped from her mind when she thought about Charmander's final form, Charizard. Gyphie sighed, laughing quietly to herself as the image of a huge dragon-like PoKéMoN wore a cute little collar. That was probably one of her sillier ideas, although on Charmander it _would _look cute.

"Whatcha thinking about?" The question came from nowhere and caught her completely off-guard, Gyphie looking up at Takeshi.

"Oh, I was just thinking what it would look like to put a collar on Charmander," Gyphie answered. "It wouldn't look too appealing on a fearsome Charizard, though."

"You never know. My mom once put a collar on Steelix… he wasn't too happy with that." Takeshi laughed nervously.

"A collar on a Steelix? I didn't even know they made them that big…" Gyphie thought aloud.

"Oh, they don't, my mom made it." Takeshi said. Gyphie arched a brow, attempting to imagine what that would look like.

"What are _you _thinking about?" Gyphie asked, without much thought. She then wondered if that was the right thing to say, trying to make small talk with this new traveling partner.

"That it's a bit chilly out and maybe we should stop for the night and hit Viridian in the morning." Takeshi replied. He laughed a bit to himself as he noticed Gyphie looked a bit embarrassed.

"No way! I wanna get there by a decent hour!" Gyphie cried.

"It's about two more hours of trekking if," Takeshi stopped and pointed directly to the left of them, Gyphie almost running into his arm, "we go this way instead of stay on the road. It's a bit of a shortcut, but it's a little rough."

"Let's do it!" Gyphie exclaimed, grabbing Charmander and started in a mad dash in the direction of which Takeshi was pointing.

"Jeeze, they get more and more energetic each year they send more trainers out." Takeshi murmured.

"Vul!" Vulpix agreed.

Shrugging, Takeshi took off after Gyphie, soon finding the trainer in a crumpled mess at the bottom of the hill. She lie on her shoulder blades, her two legs framing her face and her skirt just barely covering her rear. Charmander sat on her rear, laughing hysterically at Gyphie's newfound position. Takeshi took Charmander off of her and helped her up to her feet, Gyphie trying to recompose herself before continuing on. This time Gyphie took things a bit slower instead of dashing off like she had before, Takeshi following closely behind her with Charmander in tow.

As Takeshi had said, two hours passed before Gyphie could see the city lights of Vridian City. During that two hours she had managed to capture a brand new female Rattata with blue eyes and get frustrated as at least two different Spearows flew away from her before she could catch them. Takeshi waited patiently as he could remember one of his own friends being overly excited to start on his PoKéMoN journey, so he didn't want to ruin things for Gyphie. Even more excitement was found when Gyphie spotted the city lights, Gyphie doing a little dance with Charmander before grabbing Takeshi by the hand and starting in a sprint towards Viridian City. Charmander ran as fast as he could behind them, Vulpix bouncing uncomfortably on Takeshi's backpack.

Ten more minutes passed before the group of four happened upon the entrance to Viridian City. Gyphie was completely out of breath, having not really had much exercise, while Takeshi seemed almost unaffected by the flat-out sprint to the city. Gyphie collapsed on the road in a heap, sitting on her rear as she stared at the beautiful city of Viridian. Takeshi laughed a bit to himself, waiting for Gyphie to catch her breath. Before either of them knew it, a police officer was headed over to the both of them, her hair a light baby blue.

"Hello, Officer Junsar!" Takeshi called to the woman, who smiled and waved at him.

"Good evening, Takeshi-kun! How are you?" The woman, known as Officer Junsar, asked.

"I'm doing well. Just did a sprint from about a mile and a half from here just to see you!" Takeshi grinned. Officer Junsar laughed and removed one of her white gloves, revealing a ring on her left hand.

"You know I'm married now!" Officer Junsar exclaimed. Gyphie blinked, watching the two of them have a conversation.

"So how are things these days? It's been at least two years since I last passed through Viridian." Takeshi said.

"Things have been great! No sign of the Rocket Gang at all! How goes the PoKéMoN studies?" Officer Junsar asked next.

"Oh, it's been great, except Vulpix stepped in a poacher's trap and now I have to take her to the PoKéMoN Center." Takeshi replied. Gyphie looked to Takeshi and then back at Officer Junsar, then looked at Charmander and shrugged.

"Who's your friend?" Officer Junsar asked next, putting her glove back on.

"This is Gyphie, from Pallet Town," Takeshi answered, holding out a hand to Gyphie. She took the hand and was pulled up to her feet, Gyphie waving. "She just started her journey today."

"You started a bit late, didn't you? How old are you?" Officer Junsar blinked. Gyphie sighed, feeling as if a dagger had just impaled her skull.

"I'm sixteen… my parents thought that ten was way too young for someone to start traveling the world." Gyphie replied.

"Oh, well I--"

Right at that moment, Officer Junsar was cut off by a large explosion, causing the five of them to fly into the air and skid on the pavement a little ways away. Gyphie landed on her back and rolled, soon stopping a few feet away from where she had first hit the ground. Charmander skidded to a stop next to her, grunting in pain as he had slid on his back nearly the whole way. Takeshi attempted to catch himself so he didn't land on Vulpix, landing on his hands and soon falling onto his stomach. Officer Junsar somersaulted back to her feet after she hit the ground, soon standing and staring in horror at the sight in front of her. The entire police station had been blown to smithereens, a flock of what looked to be Pidgey and Pidgeotto flying away from the site.

Gyphie slowly picked herself up off of the ground, resting on her arms as she looked up at the building. She saw a shadowy figure emerge from the smoldering flames, but as she blinked and shook her head, the image soon faded from sight. All that was left was a small Pidgey on the ground with something attached to its talon. Takeshi sat up and took his pack off, soon un-strapping Vulpix and making sure she was okay. Gyphie quickly got to her feet, pointing in shock at the station that was engulfed in flames.

"What the hell--!? Gyphie, what the hell did you do!?" Gyphie looked over to her left to see Shorty standing there, his eyes wide with shock.

"What do you mean, 'what the hell did you do!?' I didn't do this!" Gyphie cried defensively. While Gyphie and Shorty began to bicker back and forth, Officer Junsar walked over to the fiery station and picked up the injured Pidgey, quickly dashing away as a smaller explosion took place, causing Gyphie and Shorty to both stop arguing.

"That was more excitement than I was hoping for today…" Takeshi said disdainfully. Officer Junsar detached the note that was tied to Pidgey's leg, reading it to herself before gasping.

"What is it, Officer Junsar?" Gyphie asked, getting to her feet. Officer Junsar looked at Takeshi, a look of horror on her face.

"The Rocket Gang is back, Takeshi… just when I thought the trainers no longer had anything to worry about in this region, they've come back." Officer Junsar spoke with a shaky voice.

"It'll be okay, Officer Junsar, we'll just have to stop them again." Takeshi said reassuringly.

"Until then, we need to take this Pidgey to the PoKéMoN Center right away! Its wing is broken!" Officer Junsar exclaimed. Takeshi nodded, getting to his feet and slinging his bag over his shoulder. He held Vulpix in one arm and put the other strap to his bag over his shoulder, Gyphie walking over towards Officer Junsar. Charmander stood up off of the ground and rubbed his rear, soon trotting over to Gyphie and Officer Junsar.

"I can't believe this… not even a full day's worth into our journey and you went and blew up the friggin' police station…" Shorty grumbled.

"I didn't explode the police station, the Rocket Gang did! I think… but I didn't do it!" Gyphie shouted.

"It's okay, Gyphie, I know you didn't do it. Now let's hurry, this Pidgey needs some medical care and so does Vulpix," Officer Junsar said as she turned and began to walk down the road.

Without much of a choice, Gyphie and Takeshi both followed Officer Junsar, Charmander once again in tow. Shorty crossed his arms and stared intently at the police station, staying behind while the others moved on through the city to reach the center. Off in the distance the sound of sirens filled the air, going to put out the fire at the police station. Officer Junsar sighed, a grim look on her face as the small group progressed towards the center, Takeshi walking up to her to ask her to ask her what was really wrong. Officer Junsar was a police officer who was afraid of nothing, as were the rest of her cousins who worked in the police force.

"What's really got you frightened?" The question was an abrupt one, Officer Junsar nearly jumping when she heard Takeshi ask this.

"I can't tell you that… it's for your own good, Takeshi," the officer said, crumpling the paper in a hand and quickly distributing it to her pocket.

"You know you can tell me anything. I've known you and your cousins for how long? And Satoshi," at the mention of his name, Officer Junsar shuddered, "you told him everything and he was just a kid. Why now, when we're older, can you not tell us these things?"

"Because it was a mistake that I made in the past that I refuse to do ever again," Officer Junsar looked at Takeshi. "I don't want to risk anyone else's lives by disputing my business and neither will my cousins."

"I'm sorry you feel that way." Takeshi said, falling behind slowly as he held onto Vulpix.

"I will say this," Officer Junsar said, Takeshi looking up at her, "if I were your friend, I would be extra careful with having a PoKéMoN like that Charmander."

Takeshi looked behind him at Gyphie, who was too busy admiring all of the buildings of Viridian City to hear what he and Officer Junsar were discussing. This was the first time that Gyphie had been anywhere outside of Pallet Town, the teen taking everything for what it was worth. It wouldn't be long before Gyphie would have to leave this city anyway and continue on her journey to becoming a great PoKéMoN master. Charmander was walking happily beside of her, appearing to be humming as he swished his tail about merrily; he didn't appear to be injured at all from the explosion.

Nothing else was said among the group as they came to the large staircase leading up to the PoKéMoN Center, Gyphie's eyes growing big. This place was monstrous in size, fluorescent lights shining from inside of the building and reflecting the green of the floor tiles. The center stood as if it were a hunched monster, the glowing of the lights within seeming to be the gargantuan jaws. At the same time it seemed to have an air of security around it, as if nothing could go wrong to anyone who stepped inside and instead they would come out feeling more revitalized than they had going in.

Officer Junsar started up the stairs at a sprint, wanting to get this Pidgey inside of the center quickly. Takeshi, Gyphie, and Charmander all followed soon after, Officer Junsar dashing through the automatic glass doors and heading to the front desk. Takeshi went in right after her, Gyphie and Charmander stopping in front of the doors. They still stood open, as if trying to coax them to walk into the hungry monster's mouth so that it could gobble them up.

"Jeeze, this place is so huge… well, time to get eaten by the monster." Gyphie spoke mostly to herself. She lifted her foot and took a rather large step inside, looking almost like a sumo wrestler getting into combat position, and soon stood straight as she looked around at the inside of the building.

"Char..?" Charmander blinked at his trainer's strange statement, soon waddling in after her.

The center had shiny green floor tiles and the walls were all an eggshell white, a large picture hanging up on one of the walls. It appeared to have some ancient drawings of PoKéMoN on it, Gyphie staring in wonderment at this small portrait. On the far side of the wall was a line of video phones, one trainer on the phone with what looked to be his mother. Along the other wall were chairs for people waiting for their PoKéMoN to come out of their treatments, a Pidgey clock hanging on the wall above it. Gyphie tilted her head slightly as she looked at the clock, finding that it was only eight forty-seven in the evening. She figured it would be a lot later, since she had started out at roughly nine in the morning, but it wasn't too awful.

Officer Junsar was speaking with a nurse behind the counter, who wore a small white nurse's hat on her head. Her bangs were a puffy soft pink, the rest of her hair being pulled back into two loops behind her head. Her eyes were a bright blue and her face had nothing but kindness written all over it. As Gyphie further examined this nurse, she found she had quite the belly, Gyphie assuming she was pregnant (as it was rude to think someone was fat… or was it the other way around?). The nurse wore a dress that seemed to poof out towards the bottom, the woman wearing a pair of white flats. Gyphie blinked, walking up to the counter and standing behind Officer Junsar.

"Oh, and this is Gyphie, a new trainer," Officer Junsar motioned to Gyphie, who waved.

"Pleased to meet you, Gyphie, I'm Nurse Joi. While I'd love to get to know you better, I have to get these PoKéMoN taken care of ASAP," Nurse Joi walked over to the side and out from behind the counter. "Chansey, bring me a stretcher for a small flying type and a stretcher for a small fire type!"

After this was said, Gyphie heard a door open as several PoKéMoN walked out of it, two different stretchers being dragged along with them. They stood a bit above Nurse Joi's waist and they all wore nurse's hats as well. They were pink in color, small bands that appeared to be hair hanging from the tops of their heads, deep pink on the tips. A small pouch with an egg in it was on the front of each Chansey, their feet small and slender while they were wide. A tail wagged behind them as they waddled, the Chansey doing the job they were told to do.

Nurse Joi took the Pidgey in Officer Junsar's arms and laid it gently on one of the stretchers, Takeshi walking over to the other stretcher and placing Vulpix on it. He withdrew a pocket knife from his pants pocket, cutting the medical tape and removing his glove from Vulpix's foot. After this was done, the Chansey bowed and took the PoKéMoN on the stretchers back to where they had come from.

"Thank you for bringing them here, we'll take good care of them," and with that, Nurse Joi bowed and followed the Chansey behind the swinging door.

"They're in good care. I'm going to go back to the station and see if I can find anything else. Please call me when Pidgey's treatment is finished." Officer Junsar said.

"See you later, Junsar." Takeshi waved, Officer Junsar nodding to both him and Gyphie before heading for the doors.

"Well, on the bright side at least nothing else can go wrong for now!" Gyphie exclaimed, happily.

Just as that was said, the lights in the center zapped out, Gyphie blinking.


	3. And Thar it be, Chewin' on me Wires

CHAPTER THREE

And Thar it be, Chewin' on me Wires

DISCLAIMER: I don't own anything in this story but my own characters and some PoKéMoN designs.

**So there they were, standing in the dark lobby of a PoKéMoN Center, Gyphie clinging for dear life to Takeshi. Charmander looked around as if trying to find where the light in the room went, not aware his trainer was now nowhere near him. Takeshi was in the middle of trying to turn his glove inside out so he could see if any blood had gotten on it. However, now he was in a stranglehold with a sixteen-year-old girl who was afraid of the dark. The trainer who was on the phone just moments ago was now sitting in the dark trying to reconnect with whoever it was he was on the phone with (it was assumed it was his mother).**

"**Can't… breathe…" Takeshi gasped, Gyphie still clinging to him.**

"_**Why **_**did I have to say it!? Things **_**always **_**go wrong if you mention something about how they're **_**not **_**going wrong! I'm so stupid!"**

**At that moment the lights flickered back on, Gyphie blinking as she eased her grip on Takeshi. The trainer on the other side of the room sighed with relief and tried to call whoever it was he was talking to back. Takeshi gasped for air as Charmander patted his leg as if to say, "I'm sorry my trainer nearly killed you." He then turned his glove completely inside out and examined it, seeing a small amount of blood on the inside of the glove. Gyphie picked herself up onto the counter, soon leaning over it and hanging off the other side of it with her rear in the air. She looked around under the counter for any signs of something that might've brought the power back to the center, soon giving up when she couldn't spot anything on that side of the counter.**

"**PoKéMoN Centers have a back up generator of some sort, in case you were wondering," Takeshi said with little emotion in his voice, more focused on his glove than Gyphie's actions (which was surprising because normally he would be checking out any girl who stuck her hind quarters in the air).**

"**Ah, that's really neat! Oh, say, I did promise I'd let Rattata out of her PoKéBall when we got here, didn't I?" Gyphie wondered aloud, reaching to a PoKéBall on her belt with the number one on the button. She detached it from her belt and pressed the button, the ball growing larger.**

"**As promised, here you go Rattata!" Gyphie called, the ball bursting open with a brilliant white light. A four-legged PoKéMoN was formed out of the light on the ground, small in size. It soon took the shape of what looked to be a rat, its fur soon being colored by the purple it normally was as the light faded. A pair of baby blue eyes looked up at Gyphie, the Rattata tilting her head to the side.**

"**Why did you let her out?" Takeshi asked, watching as Gyphie placed the ball back on her belt.**

"**Because they wander freely before we come along and capture them. So after I capture my PoKéMoN, I want them to have that chance again. That way they may be able to trust me a bit more because I put my trust in them!" Gyphie smiled.**

"**That's one way of putting it," Takeshi said as he began to head over to the chairs on the other side of the room.**

"**Charmander Char!" Charmander called to the Rattata, who turned to look at him.**

"**Rattata!" the rat PoKéMoN replied. Gyphie smiled at the two of them, soon following Takeshi to the chairs on the other side of the room.**

**Takeshi removed the large bag on his back and sat down, setting his glove on the arm of the chair. He then took his green sleeping bag off the top of his bag, setting it to the side as well before he unzipped the bag and began to rummage through it. Gyphie sat down next to him, watching as Charmander danced about and talked to Rattata, who in turn ran around in circles. Gyphie soon began to think about why the power went out in the first place, beginning to wonder if the power went out in the rest of the city. A quick glance out of the windows proved otherwise, the city being bright as ever. **_**I wonder if the whole city has a back up generator like this center?**_** Gyphie thought to herself.**

**As time went on, Gyphie continued to let her thoughts consume her, placing her elbows on her knees and her head in her hands. She never once paid Takeshi any attention when he stood up and left the lobby to where Gyphie assumed was the restroom, nor did she realize when he had gotten back. Takeshi sat down next to her, on the end of his seat, and tapped Gyphie on the shoulder, the poor girl nearly jumping out of her skin.**

"**You sure are jumpy, aren't you?" Takeshi laughed, Gyphie holding a hand to her heart.**

"**This is my first day away from home! Of course I'm jumpy!" Gyphie defended herself, attempting to recollect her composure. Charmander and Rattata soon ran over to her, Charmander trying to see if she was all right.**

"**Well you're in one of the safest places in the city now, so you have nothing to worry about. Although if you're afraid of the dark, I wouldn't advise going to the restroom right now," Takeshi brought up. Gyphie noticed that Takeshi now had both gloves on, a flashlight in one hand and what looked to be some type of cleaning supply in the other.**

"**Why not?" Gyphie asked, her curiosity getting the better of her.**

"**The backup generator only supplies electricity to the major facilities and the lobby of the center." Takeshi answered simply. Charmander nodded, as if he knew this, Rattata blinking while sitting on her haunches.**

"**You think we should alert an electrician since Nurse Joi is trying to help out Pidgey and Vulpix?" Gyphie asked next, beginning to tap her feet on the floor. She watched her feet, not wanting to appear like she was staring at Takeshi.**

"**That's actually a good idea. I'll go do that," Takeshi got up and headed towards the other side of the lobby where the phones were, the other trainer long gone since the power outage.**

**Gyphie began to bounce in her seat, beginning to grow restless as she waited for the two PoKéMoN to be treated. Her stomach growled, Gyphie placing a hand on it as she remembered that she hadn't eaten anything today. The trainer sighed, Charmander patting her hand. After a few moments, Takeshi returned from the other side of the room, sitting next to her once more and placing his hands behind his head.**

"**They'll be here in a little while; it seems since the police station went up in flames a few other places' electricity went out as well. I wonder if they're connected?" Takeshi said, the question being more of a spoken thought than anything else. "Shouldn't you call your parents and let them know you're okay?"**

"**Oh, well," Gyphie sighed softly, "my mom and dad are aides to Professor Oak, so they travel around a lot. They were the ones who discovered my Charmander and Professor Oak gave him to me as my starter. I don't have a number or address to where they're at now, but they do sometimes send me a postcard." Gyphie kicked at the ground.**

"**Ah… well, they must put a lot of trust in you to look after yourself." Takeshi said reassuringly. This put a small smile on Gyphie's face and she nodded.**

**Just as silence had managed to take claim to the lobby once again, Gyphie relaxed against the back of the chair she was sitting in. She sat her bag on her lap and began to shuffle through it, soon finding her trusty pair of headphones, putting them on her head. She closed her eyes and searched for the buttons for her MP3 player, soon finding them and pressing the button for it to play. One of her favorite songs soon began to play from her headphones, rather loud actually, and the trainer nearly jumped out of her skin. The once quiet room became filled with a loud cry, Gyphie taking her headphones off and tossing them, and her entire bag, onto the floor. She breathed heavily, staring at the bag as if some kind of demon had come out of it, Takeshi arching a brow.**

"**Char..?" Charmander blinked, looking at the bag.**

"**Sorry, I guess I just left the volume up way too loud on my MP3 player. Don't mind me!" Gyphie laughed nervously, picking up her bag and its now spilled contents off of the floor.**

"**What a beautiful song… what is it?" Takeshi asked, listening to the song playing rather loudly on Gyphie's headphones.**

"**It's… um…" Gyphie blushed slightly, feeling a bit embarrassed that her girly tastes in music seemed to be shining even now, "it's **_**Because There We Have the Sky**_***." Gyphie smiled, looking at the front of her black MP3 player. The screen was covered in Japanese Kanji (but what do you expect? They're Japanese, after all), Gyphie watching the title flash across the screen.**

*****_**Because they're speaking Japanese, since PoKéMoN **_**is **_**a Japanese show, I decided I would put the English title since this has been "translated" so you can read it. The title in Japanese is **_**Soko ni Sora Ga Aru Kara**_**. It's a beautiful song and if you're a PoKéMoN fan, you should have heard it before.**_

**Gyphie quickly put the rest of her contents into her bag, putting it back onto her shoulder as she hung her headphones around her neck and adjusted the volume of the music. After doing this, she then heard some type of scratching in the walls, at least she thought she did. Blinking, Gyphie looked at the wall, as did Charmander and Rattata. Takeshi looked at Gyphie, wondering if she was hearing thing.**

"**Takeshi… did you hear that just now?" Gyphie asked.**

"**Hear what?"**

"**I think there's something in the wall."**

**Gyphie got up into the chair on her knees and put her ear to the wall, trying her best to listen. Charmander and Rattata got into the chair next to her and put their ears to the wall as well, trying to listen.**

"**Pika."**

**Gyphie took her ear away from the wall and screamed, pointing at it as if it were some kind of ghost. Charmander jumped in fear at her scream and fell into the floor, Rattata looking bug-eyed at the girl. Takeshi himself jumped, nearly falling over the arm of his own chair.**

"**Please don't scream like that! It sounded as if someone was trying to kill you or something!" Takeshi cried.**

"**Sorry, but there's something in the wall! There is, I just heard it!" Gyphie pointed at the wall, still screaming. Takeshi rubbed his left ear, as he now came to the conclusion that he was now deaf in it from all the screaming. Charmander nodded to her comment and pointed at the wall.**

"**Please stop screaming!" Takeshi exclaimed. Gyphie put her hands over her mouth, blushing from realizing that she was still screaming.**

"**It sounds like a PoKéMoN! And I'm gonna catch it!" Gyphie smiled, taking a ball from her belt and enlarging it. Charmander clapped happily, thinking this was a great idea, Rattata looking to have fainted from all the screaming her master was doing.**

"**How do you intend to get into th--HEY WAIT GYPHIE WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?" Takeshi cried, getting to his feet. Gyphie had now picked up the chair she was sitting in and was about to bash a hole into the wall of the center when Takeshi grabbed her arms.**

"**You really don't think these things through, do you!? Put the chair down!" Takeshi struggled with Gyphie, who sighed and put the chair down.**

"**You're right, I guess I do--"**

**Gyphie was interrupted as a hole crumbled in the wall, Gyphie screaming again. Rattata fell off of the chair now, holding her ears as Takeshi did the same thing. Only this time Gyphie wasn't screaming in horror at some type of murderer, but rather at the fact a hole crumbled in the wall directly behind her chair. She didn't have the money to repair this, however rich her family may be, and her parents were going to kill her for having a bill to repair the wall. Gyphie sat on the ground and began to cry, holding her hands up to her face as she cried.**

"**Pikachu. It has small electric sacs on both its cheeks. If threatened, it looses electric charges from the sacs."**

**Gyphie's PoKéDEX spoke, Takeshi looking at the electrical rodent sitting in the hole in the wall. It had a wire in its mouth, the Pikachu blinking a pair of deep brown eyes that appeared to be black from a distance. Takeshi hadn't seen a Pikachu in quite some time, the trainer actually shocked to see a wild Pikachu without a familiar trainer nearby. At the name Pikachu, Gyphie perked right up and was standing in a battle stance, a PoKéBall in her hand as she grinned.**

"**All right, a Pikachu! They're so cute! I'm gonna capture it!" Gyphie exclaimed, Charmander nodding.**

"**Pika," the PoKéMoN said with little enthusiasm, its right ear dropping lower than the other. It spat the wire out of its mouth, Gyphie throwing a PoKéBall at it. Pikachu looked at the ball with wide eyes, swinging itself around to meet the ball with its tail. The ball came zooming back at Gyphie, smacking her right square in the nose. Gyphie fell backwards, Takeshi catching her in his arms as he noticed something. The Pikachu, quite irritated now, quickly scurried down the wall. Rattata quickly followed after it, being determined to help her trainer out after watching her be humiliated.**

"**Owch…" Gyphie muttered, the ball falling off of her face and hitting the floor. Takeshi laughed nervously, pulling a handkerchief out of his pocket and handing it to Gyphie. The poor girl held the cloth to her now bleeding nose, looking around for Rattata.**

"**That was a girl Pikachu; if memory serves me right, female Pikachu have a worse attitude than males do." Takeshi said.**

"**How do you know it was a girl?" Gyphie asked.**

"**One, there was a cut in her tail, which is a common trait among female Pikachu. For some reason, this is a more recent trait, seen in later generations of Pikachu rather than the older generation. Another thing I noticed was it had a pink bow attached to its tail." Takeshi replied, quite matter-of-factly.**

"**Oh, okay then," Gyphie said. She then noticed Rattata was missing. "Hey, where'd Rattata go?"**

"**Char," Charmander pointed to the hole in the wall, Gyphie sighing.**

"**Luckily I've been in so many PoKéMoN Centers I know their structures well," Takeshi smiled, helping Gyphie up to her feet. Gyphie blushed lightly, realizing now that Takeshi had caught her as she fell. "Follow me, I know where they're headed."**

**Gyphie nodded, Takeshi leaving his bag behind as he lead the way. Charmander picked up the neglected PoKéBall and scurried after his master and her newfound companion, his tail wagging behind him. Takeshi rounded the corner, looking around a moment to make sure that Gyphie and Charmander were with him before starting down a hallway that Gyphie failed to notice (it was the hallway that Chansey had headed down before they entered a door nearby for the Intensive Care Unit). The three of them ran down the hallway, noises of scurrying rodents in the wall being heard the whole way. Gyphie soon heard the chanting of Pikachu, looking to her right as they passed a room with a large glass window. Inside were a bunch of Pikachu holding onto each others' tails, running on what looked to be some kind of treadmill while supplying electricity to the center.**

**Ignoring the biggest amount of cuteness she had ever seen packed in one room, Gyphie continued to follow Takeshi, Charmander not far behind. Within a few moments they had reached the end of the hallway and soon found themselves in a supply room, Gyphie stopping a moment to rest on her knees and pant. Takeshi hadn't even broken a sweat, while Charmander collapsed next to his trainer and panted himself. The room was dark, but from what Gyphie could see it was filled with crates of various sizes, some stacked up against a wall while some were pulled out away from the wall a bit and had been opened (probably by Nurse Joi as she needed whatever contents were within). On one side of the wall were some cleaning products, including a broom and two different mops.**

**Gyphie blinked, wondering why there were two different mops before Pikachu sprang out from behind some of the crates, spooking the poor girl. She screamed and fell onto her back, the rodent springing onto her stomach and soon leaping off of it, running down the hallway. Rattata wasn't far behind, using Gyphie's stomach as a type of trampoline to chase after Pikachu. Gyphie coughed and held her stomach, the handkerchief left abandoned on her face with no hand to hold it there. Takeshi laughed nervously as Charmander sighed once again, feeling another chase on his hands.**

**Takeshi picked up Gyphie and slung her over his shoulder, chasing after the two PoKéMoN with Charmander in tow. Just as the two PoKéMoN and two trainers ran by the Intensive Care Unit door, Nurse Joi opened the door and blinked, a bit confused as to what was going on. She began to run after the two trainers, Charmander now jogging slowly behind them as he was slowly running out of energy. The poor lizard PoKéMoN eventually gave up and sat down in front of the swinging white door that was the Intensive Care Unit door, clinging to the PoKéBall and trying to catch his breath. Just as he did this, a Chansey swung the door open and smacked him in the face, the poor Charmander falling over in utter defeat. The Chansey, usually happy and bubbly, peaked around the door with a more curious look on its face, blinking as it saw Charmander twitching on the floor behind the door.**

"**Chansey?" Chansey tilted its body to the side (it's kind of hard for it to tilt a head that's a part of a body, after all).**

**Up ahead, down yet another hallway (this time with rooms for various trainers that had no place to go and no money to afford a hotel room), Takeshi was closing in on the running Rattata and Pikachu, Gyphie clinging to dear life to Takeshi as she was deathly afraid of heights, even if it was just him picking her up. Nurse Joi ran just behind the two of them, apologizing to various trainers as they came out of their rooms to see what was going on. Pikachu ran as fast as she could, soon hitting a dead end and hitting the end of her running spree. Rattata pounced onto the Pikachu, biting her on the ear as she did so. Pikachu cried out in pain, shocking Rattata.**

"**There they are! All right, Gyphie, catch her!" Takeshi said, setting Gyphie on the ground. Gyphie whirled around, going to reach for her number three PoKéBall when she realized that it was no longer on her belt.**

"**Oh no! I can't catch Pikachu! I don't have my PoKéBall!" Gyphie cried.**

"**What on earth is going on here!?" Nurse Joi shouted, Takeshi turning to look at her.**

"**We found the source of your electricity problem, Nurse Joi," Takeshi said, motioning towards Pikachu. "She was chewing on the wires and must've gotten to the main wires leading to the power generator."**

"**You made a pregnant lady run all this way for **_**this**_**!? You oughtta be ashamed of yourself! Come with me this instant!" Nurse Joi cried, grabbing Takeshi by the ear and dragging him away. Some of the trainers laughed at this display of punishment, others waiting to see what Gyphie would do about this Pikachu.**

"**Rattata, quick attack!" Gyphie called out to her PoKéMoN. Rattata sprung away from Pikachu, soon charging back towards her. Pikachu sprung up into the air, Rattata crashing into the wall instead. Gyphie gasped as Rattata seemed to be KO'd from this turn of events, sighing as she looked around for her other PoKéMoN.**

"**Charmander… Char… Char…" Charmander gasped, having finally caught up with Gyphie and the others. He held up the missing PoKéBall, Gyphie smiling as she took it.**

"**Charmander, use flamethrower on that Pikachu!" Gyphie cried, Pikachu glaring at Charmadner. The frightened PoKéMoN's eyes grew wide as the Pikachu glared at him, shaking his head as he opened his mouth to do as his master ordered. All that managed to come out was a cloud of smoke, Charmander blinking as this happened.**

"**Oh no! You used all of your energy by running!" Gyphie said, several trainers laughing at this. Pikachu smiled triumphantly, at least this was before something came and rammed into her back. Pikachu flew forward and skidded on the ground, placing her left hand on the ground and having the rest of her body slide past her left hand in such a manner that it turned her entire body in the other direction. Behind her was a Pidgey, freshly healed with a few bandages on its left wing.**

"**Pidgey! Why are you flying with your broken wing!?" Gyphie shouted at the bird PoKéMoN, who ignored this. Pidgey flew towards Pikachu, the rodent having little time to react before being hit again. She sailed in the air, soon landing on her head and doing a few backwards somersaults before coming to a stop.**

"**Now's my chance!" Gyphie smiled, looking at the ball she had taken from Charmander.**

"**PoKéBall, go!" Gyphie cried, throwing the ball at Pikachu. It bounced off of her head, the ball opening up as Pikachu turned into a ball of red light and was zapped into the ball. For a few moments, the ball shook, the button on the front glowing bright red. The glow soon faded away as the PoKéBall locked, signifying that Gyphie had caught the Pikachu.**

"**YIPPIE! I caught Pikach--" Gyphie's victory was cut short with a newspaper to the face, a very angry Nurse Joi on the other end of said newspaper.**

"**People are trying to sleep! Have some respect!" Nurse Joi exclaimed, Gyphie crumbling to the floor. Charmander blinked, Gyphie smiling as she reached out and grabbed her new PoKéMoN, holding the ball in her hands. Rattata eventually got up off of the floor, shaking her head and feeling a bit disappointed that she didn't help in capturing Pikachu at all. Pidgey landed on the ground, having tired out its wing already, hopping over to Gyphie.**

"**Sorry, Nurse Joi, but I caught Pika--"**

"**I don't care! You woke up the entire center and put a hole in my wall!" Nurse Joi shouted angrily, Gyphie gasping.**

"**No! I didn't do that it--"**

"**I'm sorry, I really shouldn't yell like that. I'm such a terrible person," Nurse Joi said, her eyes tearing up. Gyphie blinked, arching a brow as she was quickly reminded of Nurse Joi's current situation, her eyes falling on the infamous baby bump.**

"**Oh, right…" Gyphie murmured.**

"**Here, come with me young lady. And you too, Pidgey! I'll make up for being so cruel!" Nurse Joi sobbed, picking Pidgey up off of the floor. Gyphie got up herself, her and her PoKéMoN following Nurse Joi down the hallway.**

**The small group soon met in the lobby, Gyphie freaking out just a bit as she saw a KO'd Takeshi on the floor of the lobby. It appeared that he had gotten the wrath of the pregnant nurse, the poor man's body twisted and contorted into a position that Gyphie thought was impossible, not just for men, but for the human body period. She laughed nervously, Nurse Joi holding out her hand to her.**

"**Let me take your PoKéMoN for you and get them ready for your travels tomorrow!" Nurse Joi said, a bit happier now. Gyphie handed her PoKéBall to Nurse Joi, a bit reluctant as she had just captured Pikachu, but she knew the nurse would take good care of her. Charmander and Rattata followed Nurse Joi as she took them into the back of the center to be treated, Gyphie walking over to Takeshi and squatting down next to him.**

"**Er, Takeshi-kun..?" Gyphie poked Takeshi, getting no response from him.**

"**Oh well… I guess he'll be out for a while."**


End file.
